myiW Current Conditions and Forecasts Community Forums Buy and Sell Services
 
Hi guest · myAccount · Log in
 SearchSearch   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   RegisterRegister 
trumps taxes and above the law
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 7, 8, 9, 10, 11  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Politics, Off-Topic, Opinions
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14834
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Sat Mar 19, 2022 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://www.rawstory.com/glenn-kirschner-donald-trump/?cx_testId=4&cx_testVariant=cx_undefined&cx_artPos=6&cx_experienceId=EXC93HV4HK4I#cxrecs_s


'Trump will be indicted': Ex-prosecutor explains how 'justice is coming' for Trump family after NY ruling


Quote:
Glenn Kirschner, a former prosecutor for the U.S. Army, insisted over the weekend that former President Donald Trump is one step closer to being indicted.

Background Image

Progress Bar

00:00 00:00


Kirschner made the remarks after New York Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last week that members of the Trump family will have to testify under oath regarding accusations that their company illegally inflated and deflated property valuations.

"This eight-page order is unlike anything I ever saw as a prosecutor in my 30 years," Kirschner said. "This was as candid and direct and ominous for Trump and company as anything I've ever seen a judge put in writing. The judge denied Trump's motion and said, no, you and your children -- Ivanka and Don Jr. -- will sit for depositions."

The former prosecutor pointed out that Trump will likely use the Fifth Amendment to shield himself from questions.



"It can be used against him in a civil trial but it cannot be used against him in a criminal case," Kirschner explained. "So Donald Trump will be indicted. I'm not sure which jurisdiction will indict him first but he will be indicted."

"Hold on tight, folks, because there's more to come," he added. "The investigative circle continues to tighten around Donald Trump. His days are numbered. We need to exercise patience because it's coming. It's coming. It's coming. It's not coming quickly enough but justice is coming."

_________________
when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14834
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2022 10:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

here is the original post from the NYT and then the reuters watered down version that really takes out the stronger points showing how reuters does not want the strength of the resigned prosecutor to be known. If it had been a fux news take it world have been an amplifying message.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/nyregion/trump-investigation-felony-resignation-pomerantz.html?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20220323&instance_id=0&nl=breaking-news&ref=cta&regi_id=115919677&segment_id=86380&user_id=f730a3b9531f5b2c781c5ff7996dd05c


Trump Is Guilty of ‘Numerous’ Felonies, Prosecutor Who Resigned Says


Trump Is Guilty of ‘Numerous’ Felonies, Prosecutor Who Resigned Says
Mark F. Pomerantz, who had investigated the former president, left after the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, halted an effort to seek an indictment.

Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times
By William K. Rashbaum, Ben Protess and Jonah E. Bromwich
March 23, 2022
One of the senior Manhattan prosecutors who investigated Donald J. Trump believed that the former president was “guilty of numerous felony violations” and that it was “a grave failure of justice” not to hold him accountable, according to a copy of his resignation letter.

The prosecutor, Mark F. Pomerantz, submitted his resignation last month after the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, abruptly stopped pursuing an indictment of Mr. Trump.

Mr. Pomerantz, 70, a prominent former federal prosecutor and white-collar defense lawyer who came out of retirement to work on the Trump investigation, resigned on the same day as Carey R. Dunne, another senior prosecutor leading the inquiry.

Mr. Pomerantz’s Feb. 23 letter, obtained by The New York Times, offers a personal account of his decision to resign and for the first time states explicitly his belief that the office could have convicted the former president. Mr. Bragg’s decision was “contrary to the public interest,” he wrote.


“The team that has been investigating Mr. Trump harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes — he did,” Mr. Pomerantz wrote.

Mr. Pomerantz and Mr. Dunne planned to charge Mr. Trump with falsifying business records, specifically his annual financial statements — a felony in New York State.

Mr. Bragg’s decision not to pursue charges then — and the resignations that followed — threw the fate of the long-running investigation into serious doubt. If the prosecutors had secured an indictment of Mr. Trump, it would have been the highest-profile case ever brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office and would have made Mr. Trump the first American president to face criminal charges.

Earlier this month, The Times reported that the investigation unraveled after weeks of escalating disagreement between the veteran prosecutors overseeing the case and the new district attorney. Much of the debate centered on whether the prosecutors could prove that Mr. Trump knowingly falsified the value of his assets on annual financial statements, The Times found, a necessary element to proving the case.

While Mr. Dunne and Mr. Pomerantz were confident that the office could demonstrate that the former president had intended to inflate the value of his golf clubs, hotels and office buildings, Mr. Bragg was not. He balked at pursuing an indictment against Mr. Trump, a decision that shut down Mr. Pomerantz’s and Mr. Dunne’s presentation of evidence to a grand jury and prompted their resignations.

Mr. Bragg has said that his office continues to conduct the investigation. For that reason, Mr. Bragg, a former federal prosecutor and deputy New York State attorney general who became district attorney in January, is barred from commenting on its specifics.

Mr. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., had decided in his final days in office to move toward an indictment, leaving Mr. Trump just weeks away from likely criminal charges. Mr. Bragg’s decision seems, for now at least, to have removed one of the greatest legal threats Mr. Trump has ever faced.

The resignation letter cast a harsh light on that decision from the perspective of Mr. Pomerantz, who wrote that he believed there was enough evidence to prove Mr. Trump’s guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“No case is perfect,” Mr. Pomerantz wrote. “Whatever the risks of bringing the case may be, I am convinced that a failure to prosecute will pose much greater risks in terms of public confidence in the fair administration of justice.”

In a statement responding to the letter, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Ronald P. Fischetti, said that charges were not warranted and that Mr. Pomerantz “had the opportunity to present the fruits of his investigation to the D.A. and his senior staff on several occasions and failed.”


Mr. Fischetti, who was Mr. Pomerantz’s law partner in the 1980s and early 1990s, added: “We should applaud District Attorney Alvin Bragg for adhering to the rule of law and sticking to the evidence while making an apolitical charging decision based solely on the lack of evidence and nothing else.”

In its own statement, Mr. Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, called Mr. Pomerantz “a never-Trumper” and said: “Never before have we seen this level of corruption in our legal system.”

Sign up for the New York Today Newsletter Each morning, get the latest on New York businesses, arts, sports, dining, style and more. Get it sent to your inbox.
Mr. Trump has long denied wrongdoing and leveled personal attacks on the people investigating him, including a thinly veiled reference to Mr. Pomerantz. In one statement, he claimed that lawyers from Mr. Pomerantz’s former law firm had “gone to work in the district attorney’s office in order to viciously make sure that ‘the job gets done.’ ”

Mr. Pomerantz, who confirmed his resignation in a brief interview last month, declined to comment on the letter when contacted by The Times this week.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Bragg, Danielle Filson, said that the investigation was continuing and added: “A team of experienced prosecutors is working every day to follow the facts and the law. There is nothing more we can or should say at this juncture about an ongoing investigation.”


In his letter, Mr. Pomerantz acknowledged that Mr. Bragg “devoted significant time and energy to understanding the evidence” in the inquiry and had made his decision in good faith. But, he wrote, “a decision made in good faith may nevertheless be wrong.”


Mr. Pomerantz contrasted Mr. Bragg’s approach with that of Mr. Vance, who made the Trump investigation a centerpiece of his tenure and convened the grand jury last fall. Mr. Pomerantz’s letter said that shortly before leaving office, Mr. Vance had directed the prosecutors to pursue an indictment of Mr. Trump as well as “other defendants as soon as reasonably possible.”

The letter did not name the other defendants, but the recent Times article reported that the prosecutors envisioned also charging Mr. Trump’s family business and his longtime chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, who had already been indicted along with the company last year, accused of a yearslong scheme to evade taxes.

Mr. Bragg has told aides that the inquiry could move forward if a new piece of evidence is unearthed, or if a Trump Organization insider decides to turn on Mr. Trump. Some investigators in the office saw either possibility as highly unlikely.


Investigation into criminal fraud. The Manhattan district attorney’s office and the New York attorney general’s office have been investigating whether Mr. Trump or his family business, the Trump Organization, intentionally submitted false property values to potential lenders. In February, two Manhattan prosecutors resigned, clouding the future of the district attorney’s case.

Investigation into tax evasion. As part of their investigation, in July 2021, the Manhattan district attorney’s office charged the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, its chief financial officer, with orchestrating a 15-year scheme to evade taxes. In February, lawyers for both parties asked a judge to dismiss the charges.

Investigation into election interference. The Atlanta district attorney is conducting a criminal investigation of election interference in Georgia by Mr. Trump and his allies.

Investigation into the Trump National Golf Club. Prosecutors in the district attorney’s office in Westchester County, N.Y., appear to be focused at least in part on whether the Trump Organization misled local officials about the property’s value to reduce its taxes.

Civil investigation into Trump Organization. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, is seeking to question Mr. Trump under oath in a civil fraud investigation of his business practices.

“There are always additional facts to be pursued,” Mr. Pomerantz wrote in his letter. “But the investigative team that has been working on this matter for many months does not believe that it makes law enforcement sense to postpone a prosecution in the hope that additional evidence will somehow emerge.”

He added that “I and others believe that your decision not to authorize prosecution now will doom any future prospects that Mr. Trump will be prosecuted for the criminal conduct we have been investigating.”

As of late December, the team investigating Mr. Trump was mostly united around Mr. Vance’s decision to pursue charges — but that had not always been the case, The Times reported this month. Last year, three career prosecutors in the district attorney’s office opted to leave the team, uncomfortable with the speed at which it was proceeding and with what they believed were gaps in the evidence.

Initially, Mr. Pomerantz and Mr. Dunne had envisioned charging Mr. Trump with the crime of “scheme to defraud,” believing that he falsely inflated his assets on the statements of financial condition that had been used to obtain bank loans. But by the end of the year, they had changed course and planned to charge Mr. Trump with falsifying business records — a simpler case that essentially amounted to painting Mr. Trump as a liar rather than a thief.


Mr. Pomerantz, who joined the investigation more than a year ago, said in the letter that Mr. Trump’s financial statements were “false” — that he had lied about his assets to “banks, the national media, counterparties, and many others, including the American people.”

Mr. Pomerantz is not the only one involved in the investigation to suggest that Mr. Trump or his company broke the law. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, whose office is assisting the criminal investigation and conducting its own civil inquiry, has filed court papers in the civil matter arguing that she has evidence showing that the Trump Organization had engaged in “fraudulent or misleading” practices.

Mr. Trump has accused Mr. Bragg and Ms. James, both of whom are Black Democrats, of carrying out a politically motivated “witch hunt” and being “racists.”

Ms. James’s inquiry, which can lead to a lawsuit but not criminal charges, continues as she seeks to question Mr. Trump and two of his adult children under oath. The Trumps recently appealed a judge’s order that they submit to Ms. James’s questioning.

In another court filing, Ms. James disclosed that Mr. Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, had cut ties with him and essentially retracted a decade’s worth of his financial statements.

Mazars was shaping up to be a crucial witness in the criminal investigation as well. In January, Mr. Pomerantz questioned Mr. Trump’s accountant at Mazars before the grand jury, zeroing in on exaggerations in the financial statements.

But the statements also contained disclaimers, including acknowledgments that Mazars had neither audited nor authenticated Mr. Trump’s claims, potentially complicating the case. And some of Mr. Bragg’s supporters have argued that it would have been a difficult case to win.


Still, Mr. Pomerantz wrote that he and other prosecutors believed that they had amassed sufficient evidence to establish the former president’s guilt, writing that, “We believe that the prosecution would prevail if charges were brought and the matter were tried to an impartial jury.”

Addressing an apparent belief in Mr. Bragg’s office that they might lose at trial, Mr. Pomerantz wrote, “Respect for the rule of law, and the need to reinforce the bedrock proposition that ‘no man is above the law,’ require that this prosecution be brought even if a conviction is not certain.”

Mr. Pomerantz is a former head of the criminal division in the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, as well as a longtime defense lawyer. He worked on the Trump investigation pro bono.

Mr. Dunne at the time was serving as Mr. Vance’s general counsel, a job he had held since early 2017. In that role, he had successfully argued before the Supreme Court, winning access to Mr. Trump’s tax records.

Mr. Dunne has declined to comment.[/quote]
[quote]



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/manhattan-prosecutor-who-resigned-says-trump-guilty-of-felonies-new-york-times/ar-AAVqEye?ocid=BingNews


Manhattan prosecutor who resigned says Trump guilty of felonies -New York Times


Quote:
WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - One of the prosecutors who had led a New York criminal probe into Donald Trump and his business practices said in a resignation letter last month that the former president was "guilty of numerous felony violations," the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Mark Pomerantz, who resigned on Feb. 23 after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had indicated to him he had doubts about pursuing a case against Trump, also said it was "a grave failure of justice" not to hold Trump accountable, according to the Times.

Tu odisea ha comenzado
Ad
Ad
Lost Ark
Tu odisea ha comenzado
"The team that has been investigating Mr. Trump harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes - he did," Pomerantz wrote, according to the Times, which published what it said was the letter.

In the United States, criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Bragg's predecessor Cyrus Vance had said in court filings that the office was investigating “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct” at the Trump Organization, including tax and insurance fraud and falsification of business records.

Pomerantz did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Ron Fischetti, a lawyer for Trump, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither the Trump Organization nor its lawyer Alan Futerfas immediately responded to requests for comment.

The Times quoted Fischetti as saying charges against Trump were not warranted and applauding Bragg for not pursuing the case.

Another prosecutor, Carey Dunne, resigned on the same day as Pomerantz. Bragg, who took office on Jan. 1, was not confident the prosecutors could demonstrate Trump had intended to inflate the value of his real estate, the Times reported.

A spokeswoman for Bragg, Danielle Filson, told the Times the investigation was continuing.

A civil investigation into Trump and the Trump Organization is being conducted by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump has previously denied wrongdoing and said the state and city investigations were politically motivated.

_________________
when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14834
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 12:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-s-longtime-legal-strategy-may-be-catching-up-with-him/ar-AAWABVC?ocid=EMMX&cvid=fa8c6b2de4c949bd9541e8eac0cc843c

Donald Trump's longtime legal strategy may be catching up with him


Quote:

Donald Trump has long had a simple philosophy when it comes to legal matters: Sue, sue, sue.

A USA Today review in 2016 showed that Trump had been involved in more than 4,000 lawsuits over the prior 30 years, a stunning testament to his litigiousness.

In the White House, Trump just kept suing (or threatening to sue). As I noted in October:

"Trump sued John Bolton to stop the the publication of a book about the former national security adviser's time in the White House. (He lost.) He threatened to sue CNN because a poll showed him trailing Joe Biden by 14 points. He threatened to sue The New York Times after the newspaper published an article detailing allegations by two women that Trump had inappropriately touched them. He threatened to sue if members of his campaign were not allowed into satellite election offices in Philadelphia. He threatened to sue special counsel Robert Mueller."



It's, well, kind of his thing. Trump often uses litigation as a way to influence public opinion. It's a way of showing that he's always on offense, and muddying the waters surrounding public perception about him and his business.


While, in the main, that strategy has worked for Trump over these many years, it may well be hitting a roadblock in the civil case being brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Witness what happened Monday in New York. A judge ruled that Trump was in civil contempt for his refusal to comply with a subpoena for documents related to the investigation into whether his company made misleading or fraudulent financial statements. (The judge said Trump would be fined $10,000 a day until he complies.)

While Trump's legal team said that they will appeal the ruling -- because, of course -- the decision does make clear the limits of the former President's use of the legal system to obfuscate and stall.

The Point: Trump's legal problems are, without question, the biggest threat to his running again for president in 2024. And they aren't going away.

_________________
when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14834
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2022 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

found on another site.

Quote:
Trump claims he doesn’t have the tax statements the NYAG asking for. Why can’t the NYAG office just ask the IRS what they have, in order to see what the Trump business reported his property value as, then ask the banks the same thing?
This is where the process of simplification breaks down. One of the main pieces of documentation being asked for and denied is what are called Accounting Stanards.

Accounting standards are practices and policies that a company uses to make sure that they are measuring apples with apples, oranges with oranges, and that oranges and apple are measured on a level playing field. Thes practices systematize bookkeeping accounting functions across what can be multiple firms and a long period of time. They are comprehensive, and they must be produced in a way that dozens or even hundreds of people can use them to properly account for what they are doing with money.

Most corporations use a standard accounting practice that has been approved over time to measure loss, profit, cost, expense, carried debt, and the like. It makes it easy to do your books and means that an audit or heaven forbid a civil or criminal action can be dealt with easily. Most civil tax issues are mistakes. You take a tax credit where you did not deserve one, or you valued a property by standards that do not hold as much water as you might like. Most audits are friendly at the large corporation level. The IRS is unmercifully against small tax payers but is rather cordial with large companies, and an audit is an expected part of business.

To give you an example based on reality. Trump fired a man for having a voice he did not like, a lisp. That lisp was caused by a battlefield injury and the veteran who Trump fired was, before being let go, ridiculed, shamed, physically threatened, and had numerous jokes played on him, like a little burning toy soldier that was supposed to make fun of how he received his injury. The man filed a complaint, went into negotiation, and as Trump was seeking a future presidency he settled. The man got $400,000. $160,000 went to lawyers fees, he got $240,000.

Then he made an innocent mistake. Sometimes the IRS will allow you to deduct from taxes your lawyers fee — that is the standard across the industry. However there is a policy in the IRS to have the successful plaintiff in discrimination suits pay all taxes on lawyers fees whenever they can get away with it - in essence taxing the fees twice. The man took a deduction for the fees and the IRS pounced. While the IRS accepted twenty other deductions for the same reason from other people, they elected this guy to send the message, which is legal, and he ended up owing money after the settlement.

On the corporate side an accountant at an LLC takes a very similar deduction on legal fees, and the IRS calls and tells them it is not allowed. There is a series of pain free conversations, negotiations, and a settled tax burden that is less than the IRS wanted, but more than they would have gotten, and the LLC is ahead after expenses.

So for years Trump business practices have been suspect. The IRS has been playing the game of gentleman tax collector. Trump has been sticking up its middle finger. The IRS has asked for the process by which they arrived at valuation and tax burden, which is a precise document, and Trump has been sending notes that says, “this is the best accounting system in the world and it is huge and more accurate than anyone else.” Which is meaningless.

Now Trump has been asked to show his work. Since he did not use a standard accounting system, what system did he use? There should be a hundred copies of the thing sitting around since every accountant needs to have one. These are not secret, not like the actual numbers that plug in. They are like highway driving rules, keeping them secret defeats the purpose.

A number of years ago some of the Trump bankers and accountant firms realized that something was wrong and asked for the same documents. Trump said that they should take his word for it that the accounting system he used was the best and most honest and powerful one ever designed. Eventually it became obvious, there was no system, or none that was legal. His accountants announced that no number coming from the Trump organization could be trusted.

Now a prosecutor has said, give us this system you use.

They have to have it.
There are hundreds of copies or more.
The used it through 2021 filing.
There is testimony it exists.
They have the numbers that show it was used.
Give us one copy so we can understand the numbers.
Trump’s response is that more than two hundred copies of the document that was used as late as January 2022 are now lost. Not one copy can be found, and since there was a request for document freeze on destruction of materials from at least six years ago, it means that Trump claim has all the validity of the dog eating his homework.

I want to advance this further to outline what this means to the trump world and how deep in lies the average Quoran Trumper is mired in, and why this is bad for our society. Confront a Trumper and say, “why won’t Trump turn over his documents if he is honest?”

They will answer in these ways almost without thinking. In other words, they are willing to smear their reputation and bear false witness before the world rather than answering ‘I do not know,” or even better, “that is very suspicious.” Instead they say

This is a witch hunt… A prosecutor may be on a witch hunt, but a judge wont be, not in a case of this exposure.

Trump turned over tens of thousand of documents… This is not true, but assuming it was this issue is not how many documents were turned over, but the correct documents. I can turn over all my drawings from 2nd Grade when asked to turn over documents about tax fraud and NOT meet the burden that the judge has set — to turn over the right documents.

Trump cannot be expected to know where every document is…Why is it a rich man with a battalion of accountants and lawyers is given a pass for being senile and unable to even order mandatory business documents still argue he can be president? Can you imagine telling the IRS to trust you on a receipt for a car purchase or that you lost the title to your house and cannot have title proven?

Trump cannot be expected to know how his business is run… Yes he can. He is a CEO. He claims to be the smartest CEO in the business. A CEO has a requirement of due diligence. If this was a case of someone selling drugs out of a property you could argue that there was no reasonable way he could know, but it is not. Does anyone really believe Trump outsources his money management to someone when that is what his corporation does and what a CEO is hired to do — make sure money comes in?

New one: I am a CPA who does 1040 forms for people and what you describe is not accurate.

Gee. Color me surprised that a person who does not admit their real name and who does taxes for people and is unwilling to share facts is somehow accurate in this enough to demand on pain of (legal action? a taunting) for me to remove this post. Welcome to being blocked.

To the Trumpers - when will you be honest?

Since this publication Trump has turned over more documents but has redacted many by removing the notes he attached that gave them context, and the Trump org has not presented a defined way in which they destroy documents other than “we just destroy what when want when we want.”

So the fine was set, and paused to give Trump another chance. This is common as the point of the fine is to make him give up what he wants to hide.

_________________
when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mac



Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17742
Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Tue May 31, 2022 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, at least this pattern of grifting is well documented:

Quote:
During the first year of Trump’s presidency, the Secret Service received permission to stay at the Trump Hotel in DC at least eight times to protect Eric and Lara Trump, even though the cost exceeded government-approved room rates, according to new documents obtained by CREW. The documents include multiple requests for the Secret Service to pay higher rates for hotel rooms at Trump properties and approval from managers.

The justifications for the request to exceed allowed amounts include hotel rooms in the area being limited due to conferences, a specific request to stay in the Trump Hotel (with no indication that that this was needed for security reasons), and the Trump Hotel being “in a ‘sold out’ status and the per diem rate could not be offered

You can read far more about it in "The Big Cheat"

Quote:
Pulitzer Prize­–winning reporter and dean of Trumpologists David Cay Johnston reveals years of eye-popping financial misdeeds by Donald Trump and his family.

While the world watched Donald Trump’s presidency in horror or delight, few noticed that his lifelong grifting quietly continued. Less than forty minutes after taking the oath of office, Trump began turning the White House into a money machine for himself, his family, and his courtiers.

More than $1.7 billion flowed into Donald Trump’s bank accounts during his four years as president. Foreign governments rented out whole floors of his hotel five blocks from the White House while lobbyists conducted business in the hotel’s restaurants. Payday lenders and other trade groups moved their annual conventions to Trump golf resorts. And individual favor seekers joined his private Mar-a-Lago club with its $200,000 admission fee in hopes of getting a few minutes with the President. Despite earning more than $1 million every day he was in office, Trump left the White House as he arrived—hard up for cash. More than $400 million in debt comes due by 2024, and Trump still lacks the resources to pay it back.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14834
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2022 9:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

another lawsuit not heard of by me before, will this make the front pages.. i doubt it.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-and-his-adult-children-will-spend-seven-hours-apiece-in-depositions-for-a-suit-accusing-them-of-promoting-a-pyramid-scheme-doc/ar-AAY3Uh1?ocid=EMMX&cvid=0e3c1fefd19e4c59938b2d4a789f66bb


Donald Trump and His Adult Children Will Spend Seven Hours Apiece in Depositions for a Suit Accusing Them of Promoting a Pyramid Scheme: Doc


Quote:
Former President Donald Trump and three of his adult children will spend seven hours apiece facing deposition for a federal lawsuit accusing them of promoting a pyramid scheme, a new court filing indicates.

Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, President Trump, Donald Trump, Jr.
© Provided by Law & Crime
Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, President Trump, Donald Trump, Jr.
“Plaintiffs provided to Defendants the following list of witnesses that Plaintiffs intend to depose, with time estimates within the Court’s guidance with respect to a 105-hour limit,” the 3-page letter to the court says.

According to the document filed on Friday, the former president, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump all face seven hours of questioning, for a total of 28 hours. Trump’s executive assistant Rhona Graff will also face seven hours of questioning; former White House senior adviser Hope Hicks will face three.

The full chart is below:

Initially filed anonymously in 2018, the lawsuit alleges that the Trump Corporation promoted a multi-level marketing scheme—better known as a pyramid scheme—through the company ACN Opportunity, LLC, which operates under the name American Communications Network. The four named plaintiffs, suing under a proposed class action, agreed to waive their anonymity last year in filing a second amended lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, ACN was a “get-rich-quick scheme” that burnished Trump and his family’s names for the purposes of “conn[ing] each of these victims into giving up hundreds or thousands of dollars” in alleged violation of various state laws. ACN had investors sign an arbitration agreement, but the Trumps did not.


The U.S. Court of Appeals Second Circuit denied the Trump family’s request to force the plaintiffs into arbitration, which likely would have resolved the matter secretly.

Instead, the case proceeded publicly in the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit there claims that the Trumps arranged for ACN to appear twice on The Celebrity Apprentice.

Though Friday’s letter doesn’t name any precise dates, the filing indicates that the depositions could take place soon.

“Defense counsel have confirmed that they will represent and produce all of the current and former Trump Organization employees, other than Ms. Hicks and Ms. Glosser, whom they expect, but have not yet confirmed, they will represent as well,” the letter states. “The parties have discussed the scheduling of these depositions and expect to take a significant number of them in June and July. The parties also have discussed a rough sequence, and have identified certain witnesses who can be deposed now and others whose depositions should be taken later, following production and receipt of certain additional documents and information. Defendants previously provided deposition dates for the witnesses, which dates have now lapsed, and expect to provide additional dates soon. The parties are optimistic that we will have a number of agreed-upon dates by the time of the conference scheduled for next week.”

The parties are expected to return to court next week.

“We look forward to the conference scheduled for June 8, and are continuing to work collaboratively so that we can report concrete progress on all of these issues by that time,” the letter states.

It is signed by multiple attorneys for both parties, including Roberta Kaplan for the plaintiffs and Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba.

Read the filing, below:

_________________
when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14834
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-s-former-accounting-firm-turns-over-docs-to-congress/ar-AA11WVTT?ocid=winp2sv1plustaskbarhover&cvid=3d33c49e0b1e48c1a2691fd9e864a1ea


Trump's former accounting firm turns over docs to Congress


Quote:
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has begun receiving documents from Mazars USA, which was Donald Trump's longtime accounting firm before it severed ties.

"After a yearslong legal fight, the House Oversight Committee has received a first trove of documents from the firm, which recently entered into a legal settlement agreeing to produce a range of financial documents from several years before Mr. Trump took office and during his early presidency. Mazars said in February it could no longer stand behind a decade of annual financial statements it had prepared for the Trump Organization," The New York Times reported Saturday.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the committee, said the company had "sent us a number of documents."

"We're reviewing them," she added. “Mazars is being very cooperative.”

Related video: AP Explains: Trump team takes aim at records probe


Maloney, who will be leaving Congress in January after losing a primary against House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), said her committee was the only one to obtain the documents.


"The Oversight Committee has been in a lengthy struggle to obtain financial documents from Mr. Trump as part of its investigation into allegations of conflicts of interest, inadequate financial disclosures and violations of the emoluments clauses of the Constitution, which bar the president from receiving profits from a domestic or foreign government other than his official compensation," the newspaper reported. "In 2019, Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former personal attorney, testified before the committee that Mr. Trump’s financial statements had falsely represented the former president’s assets and liabilities and that Mr. Trump had 'inflated his total assets when it served his purposes' and, at other times, 'deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes.'"

When Mazars severed ties with Trump, it warned past statements about Trump's financial condition "should no longer be relied upon."

"This month, the committee reached a settlement with Mr. Trump and Mazars that allows the panel to obtain key financial documents," the newspaper reported. "The agreement states that Mazars must turn over any documents between 2014 and 2018 that indicate any false or undisclosed information about Mr. Trump’s assets, income or liabilities; communications related to any potential concerns that financial information provided by Mr. Trump’s companies was inaccurate; documents from November 2016 to 2018 related to the Old Post Office Building, a federal property in Washington that Mr. Trump’s company converted into a hotel through a lease deal; and documents from 2017 and 2018 related to relationships between Mr. Trump’s businesses and foreign states."

In February, Trump lashed out after Mazars severed ties.

"The accounting firm Mazars has been threatened, harassed, and insulted like virtually no other firm has ever been," Trump complained. "They were essentially forced to resign from a great long-term account by the prosecutorial misconduct of a highly political, but failed, gubernatorial candidate, Letitia James, and the Hillary Clinton run District Attorney's Office of Manhattan, where crime has reached levels not even thought possible ..."

"Mazars decision to withdraw was clearly a result of the AG's and DA's vicious intimidation tactics used — also on other members of the Trump Organization," Trump said. "Mazars, who were scared beyond belief, in conversations with us made it clear that they were willing to do or say anything to stop the constant threat which has gone against them for years. They were 'broken' and just wanted it all to stop."

_________________
when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14834
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Wed Sep 21, 2022 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yep pleading the 5th in civil court can be held against ya... hahahahaha

trump liars in trouble... and I do not think you need a 100% jury to convict as we know there is no way a maga would convict pedophile trump... again 500 times plead the fifth is what I recall. If I was on a jury and anyone claimed the 5th 500 times well it would be tough to overcome that alone.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-corruption-accusations/



'They’re screwed': Legal experts erupt after NY AG hits Trump and his family with massive fraud lawsuit


Quote:
"We have to assume that the odds of Trump's going to jail, as satisfying as it would be to many Americans, are far smaller than the odds of a criminal conviction. What that means is this potentially ruinous civil action—coupled with criminal referral to the feds—counts as a killer blow," he also said.

"The New York AG has a lot of leverage in this lawsuit because Trump (and his son Eric) took the Fifth hundreds of times," said former U.S. Attorney Renato Mariotti. "That was smart to do, but it means they’re screwed in this civil case. A jury would likely be instructed to presume their answers would have hurt Trump."

_________________
when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14834
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 1:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

and to think Barr tried to get the SDNY for let Cohen off by ordering them to do so. But SDNY refused to let Cohen off. Barr should be dis-barred.... the head of SDNY was later fired for not stopping to go after other right wing crimes, i mean they forced SDNY in the Cohen case to remove half the pages that implicated Trump "conspirator 1" crimes that needed to be looked into. They even tried to remove the wording conspirator 1 wording from the case.

Thank You SDNY and Cohen... Hense trump pleading the 5th 500 or so times.. That can be held against him in this civil case. Trump even plead the 5th to how many square feet his unit is in trump tower.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-cohen-new-york-trump-lawsuit_n_632b93f6e4b0013f244d6371


Michael Cohen: New York's Trump Lawsuit News Makes All His 'Pain And Anger' Worth It


Quote:
New York Attorney General Letitia James noted the investigation started only after Trump's former personal attorney shed light on the financial misconduct.


Quote:
Former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen was jubilant Wednesday over New York Attorney General Letitia James’ announcement that she had filed a civil lawsuit against the former president and his three eldest children over an alleged tax fraud scheme.

“I want to personally thank [James] for acknowledging my participation and assistance in bringing accountability to the Mandarin Mussolini!” Cohen tweeted. “My journey to the truth has been filled with sadness, pain and anger. Todays announcement makes it [all] worth it!!!”

ADVERTISEMENT

In a news conference to announce the lawsuit, James noted Cohen had played a major role in kicking off the three-year investigation, which she said involved a review of millions of documents and interviews with 65 witnesses.

“Mr. Trump and his allies may say that these penalties are too harsh or that this is part of a witch hunt,” she said. “I will remind everyone that this investigation only started after Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, testified before Congress and shed light on this misconduct.”

James’ office is seeking to bar Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump from conducting business in the state of New York, as well as making them pay about $250 million in restitution and limiting their access to loans.

Her office is also making criminal referrals to federal prosecutors and the Internal Revenue Service, believing the Trumps to have broken federal law.


I want to personally thank @TishJames for acknowledging my participation and assistance in bringing accountability to the Mandarin Mussolini! My journey to the truth has been filled with sadness, pain and anger. Todays announcement makes it al worth it!!! pic.twitter.com/1hQKXkGS6J

— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) September 21, 2022
Cohen testified to Congress in 2019 that Trump grossly overstated his wealth before he was president, including inflating his assets in applying for a loan to buy the Buffalo Bills NFL team in 2014.

He said Trump exaggerated his wealth when it served his purposes and also deflated the value of assets to reduce his real estate taxes.

Cohen was once one of Trump’s closest advisers, but he turned on him after the attorney was indicted for facilitating a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from disclosing an alleged affair with Trump less than two weeks before the 2016 election. Cohen said this was done at Trump’s direction.

Cohen served time in prison after pleading guilty in 2018 to tax crimes, fraud, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. Trump has not faced any consequences over the scheme.


Cohen has gone scorched earth on his former boss since, routinely speaking out against him and working with various authorities investigating wrongdoing by the former president and his family.

_________________
when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14834
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Thu Oct 20, 2022 9:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

man things are heating up now.... got to love a judge who says in essence prosecutor is doing her job, she is going after what we see as a criminal...daaaaa

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/court-rejects-trump-s-bid-to-dodge-judge-he-called-unbelievably-unfair-in-ny-fraud-case/ar-AA13bIkk?cvid=6f8a4ff73fc542179269f9a948e82ce8&ocid=winp2sv1plustaskbarhover

Court rejects Trump’s bid to dodge judge he called “unbelievably unfair” in NY fraud case


Quote:

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday lost his bid to dodge a New York judge he called "unbelievably unfair."

New York Attorney General Letitia James last month filed a $250 million lawsuit against Trump, three of his adult children and his company, accusing them of a decade-long fraud scheme following a three-year investigation. James and Trump have battled in court throughout the probe as Trump and his children sought to avoid record requests and interviews with investigators. Judge Arthur Engoron, who heard matters related to the probe, at one point fined Trump $110,000 for defying his order to sit for a deposition, prompting Trump to complain that "we have a judge that frankly has been unbelievably unfair."


"We've given millions and millions of pages and he says give more, give more, always give more," Trump protested in May.

Trump ultimately relented and sat for a deposition, invoking his Fifth Amendment right nearly 450 times.


After James filed her lawsuit last month, Trump requested that the case be transferred from Engoron's court to the court's Commercial Division. An administrative judge on Wednesday denied his motion, meaning that the case will remain before Engoron, according to Bloomberg News.

The ruling leaves Engoron, "who is already VERY knowledgeable about the alleged years-long fraud, in place to hear the NYAG's motion to enjoin the Trump Org. from moving material assets," tweeted NBC News legal analyst Lisa Rubin.

James had asked the court to keep the case before Engoron as a "related matter" and last week filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to bar the Trump Organization from transferring assets.

James in the filing revealed that the Trump Organization registered a new company called "Trump Organization II LLC" in Delaware on the same day that she filed the lawsuit.

"Beyond just the continuation of its prior fraud, the Trump Organization now appears to be taking steps to restructure its business to avoid existing responsibilities under New York law," the filing said.

Trump attorney Alina Habba lashed out over the motion, calling it "nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to keep this case with Justice Engoron rather than have it transferred to the Commercial Division where it belongs."


Habba has repeatedly clashed with Engoron in court. Habba in February pushed Trump's claims that James was biased against him in court, interrupting the judge and drawing a rebuke from his clerk, Allison Greenfield.

"When the judge speaks, you need to stop speaking," Greenfield repeatedly told Habba, according to Insider.

Engoron ultimately ordered Trump and his adult children to comply with the subpoenas.

"The target of a hybrid civil/criminal investigation cannot use the Fifth Amendment as both sword and a shield; a shield against questions and a sword against the investigation itself," he wrote.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Trump refused to comply with the subpoena and James went back to court to hold Trump in contempt. Habba during a May hearing complained about the judge's rulings in the case.

"If you would like a bunch of more affidavits, you can order that," Habba snapped. "You can order anything you like."

Engoron held Trump in contempt and at one point fined him $10,000 per day for refusing to comply with the subpoena.

"I don't understand why we are still in contempt," Habba complained during a June hearing after Engoron refused to lift the order until Trump fully turned over documents in the case. "I think the opinion is based on who my client is," Habba claimed, "and that's concerning to me."

Trump and Habba have repeatedly claimed that he is the victim of political discrimination.

"There's no viewpoint discrimination," Engoron said during a hearing in February after Habba claimed James had "disdain" for Trump and argued that he was a member of a "protected class."

"What protected class is he a member of?" the judge pressed.

"His political speech," Habba replied. "If he was not sitting as a Republican and was not a former president who might run again, this would not be happening. So she is discriminating against him for that."

Engoron noted that protected classes include race, gender, and religion.

"Donald Trump doesn't fit that model. He's not being discriminated against based on race, is he? Or religion, is he? He's not a protected class," Engoron said. "If Ms. James has a thing against him, OK, that's not in my understanding [of] unlawful discrimination. He's just a bad guy she should go after as the chief law enforcement officer of the state."

_________________
when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Politics, Off-Topic, Opinions All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 7, 8, 9, 10, 11  Next
Page 8 of 11

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum

myiW | Weather | Community | Membership | Support | Log in
like us on facebook
© Copyright 1999-2007 WeatherFlow, Inc Contact Us Ad Marketplace

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group